I remember the last time a ghost
whispered in my ear.
It was wrapped around a guy
preaching about the Rapture
outside my apartment. As I
walked out to listen, they turned
to me: first the guy
then the ghost.

The guy said
     God is truth
     Satan is banished
     The City has fallen
     The Plague has come
and the ghost stroked his hair
and rubbed his earlobes.

I said
     God is truth
     The Plague will go
     The City will rise
     Satan rules within
the ghost clutched the guy's
neck and
cupped his ***** as
I spoke, and the guy
squeezed his eyes shut
as he shook no.

So, I lifted my hat to show
the hole I'd dug
into my forehead
to store the little cross I
whittled last year. The guy
saw my raw skin, tender
scars gouged by my nails
and said
     You are
     bat **** crazy.

But the ghost giggled and
blushed
and drifted over to me to
whisper a verse of Revelations
while I
snuck that cross
into its pocket. Then I
waltzed away
smiling
ear to ear
thinking of bats.